What is the motivation behind the increase in non-tenure-track
faculty at the University?

Members of the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs
(SACUA) discussed that question with President Lee C. Bollinger and
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs Gilbert S. Omenn last
week.

"Is this an inevitable change or an assault on tenure?" Sherrie
Kossoudji, associate professor of social work, asked Bollinger.

"Nobody is out to undermine tenure," Bollinger said. While some
might think the 20 percent increase in non-tenure track faculty since
1987 might signal the dissolution of tenure, "I don't see that in the
cards," he said. The importance of collegiality, commitment and
vigorous academic and professional standards should not be
overlooked, he added.

Regardless, Bollinger indicated that the ultimate resolution of
the issue may not be a central administrative one, and probably
should be worked out at the unit level.

In that context, Omenn presented his view of the use of
non-tenure-track faculty. At the University of Washington internal
medicine department, where he was dean of the School of Public Health
and Community Medicine before coming to the U-M, less than 25 percent
of the faculty held tenure-track positions. Yet, he argued,
Washington's department maintained the same academic and professional
success that the U-M does.

Part of the difficulty here, he noted, is that there is a
tremendous need for off-site teaching. Residents, research fellows,
and medical and doctoral students all need instruction, a demand that
cannot be met by clinicians alone.

Teaching by itself is not grounds for a tenure-track position,
Omenn explained. "Can we justify giving tenure to people in clinical
departments if they're not really excellent clinicians?" he asked
SACUA members.

In addition, he said, the role of non-tenure track faculty is
often misunderstood. "This is a great opportunity to recognize the
diversity of faculty roles. Tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty
need each other to have cutting-edge research, excellent clinical
care and training of professional students."